NYS Public Hearing: Reforming the Energy Vision (REV) - Nassau County

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Public Statement Hearings on the NY State Reforming the Energy Vision (REV) proceeding will be held Tuesday, January 26, 2016 in two Long Island locations. The Nassau County Hearing starts at 6:30 PM with a presentation by DPS staff. Public comment starts at 7:30 PM.

LI REV Hearing Talking Points (courtesy of Sierra Club):

The Governor’s ambitious new Clean Energy Standard has mandated that New York source half of our energy from renewable sources by 2030. To reach this laudable goal and take bold action on climate change, the Clean Energy Standard must include a long-term, large-scale offshore wind program that commits to developing 5000 MW by 2025.

As Long Islanders, Superstorm Sandy showed us the devastation that rising seas and supercharged storm can have on our families and communities. Our overreliance on fossil fuels will only make these types of climate disasters worse, so we need a massive buildout of local renewable energy now.

Long Island should be moving away from its dirty energy past and should reject the construction of new gas plants like Caithness II, and new dirty gas and oil peaker plants like those being considered for the East End. Offshore wind, coupled with solar, energy efficiency and battery storage can provide us with the energy we need to phase out dirty fossil fuels.

5000 MW of offshore wind alone would power millions of homes with pollution free energy and help stabilize electricity rates, protecting energy customers from oil and gas price spikes.

And if New York is the first adopter of a utility-scale offshore wind program, our state would become a regional manufacturing and supply chain hub for an entire industry, creating thousands of good-paying local jobs and turning the Empire State into an economic powerhouse.

On a local level, offshore wind coupled with energy storage technology is ideally positioned to deliver peak power to Long Island’s South Fork right now. This strategy perfectly embodies REV’s goals by providing an innovative and replicable model of tapping into local, carbon-free energy to meet reliability needs, instead of relying on outdated fossil fuel peaker plants. Powering the South Fork with a mix of distributed solar, offshore wind power, energy storage, efficiency, and demand response, would serve as an ideal prototype for making REV real on the ground.